Bag and handle combination



July 9, 1968 L. H. KING BAG AND HANDLE COMBINATION 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug.

a 4 M 2 1 F X H m a /M\ b 2 2 2 2 6 d 5i 1 av 7W L 1h a w p 0 4 M INVENTOR.

LEM/A20 li KIA/6' July 9, 1968 H. KING 3,391,853

BAG AND HANDLE COMBINATION Filed Aug. 1, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 10

INVENT OR. [Efl/VARD fl KIA 6' United States Patent ice 3,391,853 BAG AND HANDLE COMBINATION Leonard H. King, 67 Southgate Road, Valley Stream, N.Y. 11581 Filed Aug. 1, 1966, Ser. No. 569,473 3 Claims. (Cl. 229-54) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plastic handle for attachment to the head of a plastic bag. The handle includes two interlocking portions and a flat flange portion adapted to lit the palm of the hand so as to distribute the load.

This invention relates generally to plastic bags having handles secured thereto and in particular to an improved handle for thin plastic bags.

Many different handles of the type used for plastic bags are presently available in the prior art. Usually the handles are substantially flat and are provided with a hand opening and some form of locking means to hold the two handle sections in contact with each other when the bag is closed. The thinness of the prior art handle, however, makes it uncomfortable to hold when the bag is full and heavy. Further in order to provide positive closure means, the handles were necessarily made difficult to separate.

By way of contrast, the handle comprising the present invention is comfortable to hold even when the bag is full. The locking means formed integrally with the opposed handle sections is positive and yet easy to open. In one embodiment of this invention each elongated handle section is substantially flat and each section includes a hand opening having a laterally extending flange extending partially thereabout. The flanges are complementary. When the handle sections are together, the flanges extend over substantially the entire hand opening. In one variation of the first embodiment the flanges start and end approximately at the vertical center of the hand opening while in another variation the confronting ends of the flanges are approximately at the horizontal center of the hand opening. Another embodiment of the invention utilizes a flange extending at least partially about the hand opening of one handle section while the opposed handle section is devoid of a flange. Still another embodiment of this invention provides a segmented flange that assures greater resilient clamping of the opposed handle section.

Regardless of the flange location or configuration, it is presently contemplated to provide interference means integral with the flange. By so doing, the handle sections tend to set up opposing forces. That is, the handle sections will work against each other with one force acting upwardly and the other force acting downwardly. The handles will therefore lock against each other but will still be separable.

In one construction, a bead is formed integrally about the outer end of the flange. The area of the opposing handle section that does not have a flange will have to be snapped over the bead, thereby providing easily releasable locking means. Alternatively, the flange may be angled with respect to the body of the handle whereby an interference fit is provided with the hand opening of the opposed handle section. The scope of the present invention also includes the provision of making the handles in either two separate sections or as one continuous element having two elongated, spacedly opposed surfaces joined at the ends thereof.

Accordingly, it is an important object of this invention 3,391,853 Patented July 9, 1968 to provide an improved handle having novel closure means integral therewith.

Another object is to provide an improved handle that is readily manufactured at a low cost.

A further object is to provide an improved handle that is comfortable to hold when the bag is filled and heavy.

Yet another object is to provide an improved handle having positive closure means that is easily opened.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved handle having relatively large areas thereof cooperating in an interlocking manner.

A particular object is to provide interlocking closure means as described above wherein the opposed surfaces of the handle are in close contact with each other over substantially their entire length when the bag is closed.

These and other features, objects and advantages of the invention will, in part, be pointed out with particulan'ty and will, in part, become obvious from the following more detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, which forms an integral part thereof.

In the various figures of the drawing like reference characters designate like parts.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a pair of handle sections incorporating the structure of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the FIG. 1 embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3A is an enlarged, transverse sectional view illustrating locking means that may be applied to any of the embodiments;

FIG. 4 is an exploded plan view of the FIG. 1 embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an alternative embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view, on a reduced scale, of an assembled bag and handle;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an alternative construction of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another alternative construction; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of still another alternative embodiment of this invention having a segmented flange.

FIGS. 1-4 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention. Handle 20 is comprised of two elongated strips 22a and 22b. The strips are each provided with an enlarged central portion 24 having openings 26a and 26b, respectively. The opening in each strip is of a size sufficient to accommodate at least a portion of the fingers of the users hand, excluding the thumb, of course.

At least a portion of at least one of the openings is provided with a flange extending laterally from at least one side of the planar surface of the strips. The preferred embodiment includes flanges 28a and 28b extending partially around the opening in each strip 22a and 22b, respectively, and also extending laterally past both planar surfaces of the strips. In the first illustrated embodiment of the invention it will be seen that the ends of flanges 28a and 28b are confronting each other at approximately the vertical center line of the hand opening. In the closed position (FIG. 2 and FIG. 3) it will be seen that the flange of either strip interflts with the hand opening of the opposite strip.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship of the two strips when the bag is opened. It is within the scope of this invention to have the flange releasably interlock a portion of the hand opening in the opposite strip, merely by means of a friction fit. To accomplish this the flanges 28a and 28b are placed at an angle to the planer surface with which they are integral so that there is an intentional interference with the hand opening of the opposite strip. This particular arrangement is shown in FIG. 3. Still other means of releasably interlocking the two strips will be discussed hereinafter.

FIG. 3A is used to illustrate locking means that may be applied to any of the embodiments herein described. For purposes of this description the embodiment of FIG. 1 will be used. A bead 29 is provided at least partially about the outboard edge of each of the flanges. The head provides the interference fit with the portion of the hand opening in the opposed strip. 'It will be seen that the hand opening in the opposed strip must be forced over the bead and in such a condition cannot readily be removed, unless it is pulled apart. This construction provides a locking feature over a large area of the handle and yet does not require the excessive force that is needed to separate some prior art devices wherein a pin in one strip is force fitted into a much smaller aperture in an opposed strip. The head arrangement assures that the two strips may be easily snapped together and yet may easily be opened with a minimum of force.

A second embodiment of this invention is shown in FIG. 5. Therein two strips 30a and 30b are integrally joined to each other at the common ends 32 and 34. The strips in the previous embodiment as well as the second embodiment and those that are to be described hereinafter may be molded from a suitable plastic such as polyethylene that lends itself to heat sealing to a thinwalled polyethylene bag. Where other bag materials are employed it is to be understood that the handle material may be changed accordingly. The flange arrangement shown in FIG. 5 may, for example, be the same as that described in connection with the first embodiment. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this particular arrangement and that other configurations, to be described later, may also be used.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate the handles of either the first or second embodiments having been heat sealed to a polyethylene bag having walls 36a and 36b. Conventional apparatus is used to assemble the handles. The high output capabilities of these machines are well known and assure that the assembled product is of low cost.

An alternative construction is shown in FIG. 8. Handle 40 is comprised of strips 42a and 42b, each of which has an enlarged portion 44 and a hand opening 46. It will be seen that flanges 48, integral with each strip, have their confronting ends positioned proximate the horizontal center line of the hand opening. This embodiment makes less obvious the gap between the confronting ends of the flanges shown, for example, in FIG. 6. There may conceivably be occasions when the gap is objectionable. This embodiment also provides a smooth, continuous surface by which the bag is supported or held.

In FIG. 9, still another alternative construction is shown. In this embodiment, handle includes a pair of cojoined strips 52a and 52b, each of which has an enlarged portion 54 and a hand opening 56. The molding die is designed such that the strips are normally misaligned when the handle is open. As a result, downwardly biased member 52b and upwardly biased member 52a exert forces relatively opposed to each other. Only one of the strips 52a is provided with a laterally extending flange 58 extending at least partially about the handle opening. it should be noted that the flange need not necessarily extend completely about the periphery of the opening. It is necessary only that the flange be located at the upper portion of the opening, so that an enlarged surface is provided to make carrying of a filled and possibly heavy bag more comfortable. It should also be noted that the flange need only extend laterally beyond one of the planar surfaces of the handle. It is necessary only that the flange extend laterally into the opening provided in the opposed strip. This embodiment, in common with all of the previous embodiments, provides that the two strips are congruent with each other and have the hand openings in registry with each other.

The embodiment of FIG. 10 illustrates still another alternative construction of this invention and is, in effect a combination of several of the previous embodiments. Handle 60 is comprised of a pair of elongated sections 62:: and 62b. Each section has an enlarged portion 64a and 64b and a hand opening 66a and-66b therein. A flange, having segments 68a, 68b, 68c and 68d, is integral with the periphery of hand opening 66a, and is dimensioned such that it may be frictionally received in hand opening. By making the flange in sections, the inherent resiliency of the plastic material will provide the necessary gripping action.

While each embodiment has been described with its own unique features, it is to be clearly understood that the construction of one embodiment may be included with the structure of another embodiment and that various combinations of the novel features are within the scope of this invention. Although it has not been specifically illustrated, each embodiment includes one form of the interference means. The bead may be used or the flange may be angled or tapered.

The embodiments described above provide novel closure means integral with a heat scalable handle that may be readily manufactured at a low cost. All of the embodiments, by virtue of the flange arrangement, provide a handie that is comfortable to hold when the bag is filled and heavy. The closure means described are positive and yet easily opened and, in addition, operate over a relatively large area of the handle. The interlocking flange and hand opening also assures that the two strips will be in close contact with each other over substantially their entire length when the bag is closed.

Having thus disclosed the best embodiment of the invention presently contemplate-d, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. An improved handle adapted to be secured to opposed layers of a plastic bag, said handle comprising:

(a) a pair of elongated strips each having an opening therein to accommodate at least the finger portion of a hand, said strips, when secured to the bag, being substantially congruent with each other whereby the openings therein are in registry;

(b) an elongated flange integral with a portion of each of said strips, said flanges being disposed partially about the periphery of the opening in said strip and extending transversely from the planar surface of said strip, each said flange being dimensioned to fit into the opening of said other strip, said flanges being contiguous and having confronting, adjacent end portions, said flanges extending substantially about the entire periphery of the hand opening when the bag is in a closed condition; and

(c) biasing means integral with said flange, said biasing means being dimensioned to be disposed in the opening of the opposed strip whereby said strips are releasably interlocked with each other.

2. The device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said flange is disposed at an acute angle with the planar surface of said strip integral therewith to define said biasing means whereby an interference fit is provided between said flange and the hand opening in said opposed strip when the bag is closed.

3. The device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said biasing means comprises a bead integral with at least a portion of the outer edge of said flange whereby an interference fit is provided between said head and the hand opening in said opposed strip when the bag is closed.

(References on following page) 5 6 References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,296,741 5/1962 France. 1 352 070 12/1963 France 3,363,827 1/1968 Renner et a1 229-54 3,140,033 7/1964 Laguerre 229-54 r 1,410,939 8/1965 France- 3,313,470 4/1967 Renner et a1 22954 DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner. 

